IYI Party head signs for candidacy in early election

By Metin Tokgoz

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey’s opposition IYI (Good) Party leader on Friday signed a petition for her own presidential candidacy in the June 24 elections.

Meral Aksener -- who last week applied to the Supreme Board of Elections (YSK) to seek the presidency -- was welcomed by IYI party supporters at the Uskudar District Election Board in Istanbul.

Aksener is targeting 100,000 signatures to be a candidate, and so far, she has gotten around 65,000, according to an Uskudar Election Board official.

“We’ve seen how important it is to trust in our people,” Aksener told reporters outside the election board building.

Last month, parliament passed a bill calling for early elections on June 24, cementing Turkey’s move to a presidential system.

In an April 2017 referendum, Turkish voters approved the switch from a parliamentary system to a presidential one.